It's Not Just Coffee
by LittleLizzieZentara
Summary: What if Kate had decided to take action when Natalie Rhodes threw herself at Castle? Spoilers for 3x11 Nikki Heat episode
1. Chapter 1

**Thank you to everyone that added my first fan fic to their story alerts and favorites list. And a special thank you to those of you that left a review. I'd read other author comments about how inspiring reviews are (and I LOVE to leave reviews, as some of you fellow fan fic authors know all too well) but I didn't realize how true that was until I got responses to my own story. Those reviews were the main reason I decided to add more to my other story. I am still planning to add at least a couple chapters to that story; I hope to have the first one up by the end of this weekend. I had planned to write a story based on the Nikki Heat episode eventually, and today this idea just popped into my head. It wasn't until after I'd written the story that I remembered that Castle was still with Gina at this point. But they were on the verge of breaking up anyway, so we can just say that this was the final push for that.**

**And as a bonus she would be dumping Dr. Motorcycle Boy LOOOONG before he became the major annoyance that he has been in the last few episodes.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Castle, I just have fun analyzing the Caskett relationship and writing down my musings.**

**It's Not Just Coffee**

"Talk to enough people something usually shakes out."

Kate immediately squelched her irritation at Natalie Rhodes' intrusion into her conversation with Castle. After all, Kate herself was the one that had allowed the actress to shadow her so the other woman could do research for the Nikki Heat role. She wouldn't have agreed so readily if she had realized how far the blonde was willing to go.

Except that the actress was no longer blonde. That was the first thing Kate noticed when she looked over at her. Instead, a wig, similar to Kate's own chestnut locks, adorned Natalie's head. As Kate took in the actress's appearance, she realized that wasn't the only thing that had changed. Natalie's outfit was now identical to Kate's own, down to the shoes on her feet.

"Just like I dreamed it." Kate couldn't believe the words coming out of Castle's mouth. He had _dreamt_ about something this creepy? He had dreamt about _her_? His abashed, "Did I say that out loud?" didn't help any. He was totally taken in by this phony. Kate could count on one hand the times that Castle had reacted to her in a similar way, and it had never been just because she was standing there doing _nothing._

"Here you go, Beckett," Velazquez said, handing the file Kate had requested to Natalie.

"Thanks, Johnson," Natalie replied, taking the papers from the precinct clerk. "It's Johnson, right?" she belatedly asked Kate.

"It's Velasquez," Kate snapped, yanking the papers from the woman's hands. "And you are _not_ me."

"No," the actress agreed and leaned over the desk Castle was sitting at, locking gazes with the writer, "but I'm getting warmer."

"You certainly are," Castle murmured.

Okay, Kate had seen enough. Natalie was going way too far.

"Okay," Kate leaned across Natalie to set the papers down next to Castle. "So the word's out on Greta and we're already tracking Duke's credit cards." Noticing that Natalie was about to open the file on their latest case, she put her hand over it. "Why don't we just call it a night?"

"What?" The disappointed whine in the actress's voice grated on Kate's nerves. "But it's still early."

"Yeah," Castle's "no fair," drawl of the word only made Kate even more determined that things needed to be brought under control. Now.

"Yeah, well it's a high stress job," Kate said, giving the two each a pointed look. "And I wouldn't want anyone to get burned out."

"All right," Natalie agreed sullenly. "I'll go pack up my things."

As soon as the woman was out of the room Kate shut the door and turned to Castle. "You can not tell me that is normal," she whispered. True, the man was known for his wild theories, but surely even he could tell that the actress was going off the deep end.

"She's just committed to the role," Castle insisted, rising and walking over to the door. "You should be flattered," he chided before exiting the room.

"Yeah, sure," Kate was stunned that Castle didn't see it. Obviously he was he

hoodwinked by the other woman. "Until she steals my boyfriend and kills me in my sleep."

The reference to the famous movie was said only partly in jest. Natalie Rhodes was starting to really freak her out.

Yet Castle, who saw the weird in even the most normal of situations, thought nothing of the actress's antics.

Gathering the files from the desk, Kate went of the room and over to her desk. She was setting the files down when she heard a soft thud. Looking up, Kate saw that

Castle and Natalie were in the elevator, the doors rapidly closing. Her horrified gaze took in the fact that Castle was in a heated embrace with the Nikki Heat wannabe.

That did it. The woman had finally crossed the line. Stealing Kate's coffee was enough of an intrusion into her relationship with Castle. But now she thought she could snare him completely by trying to look like her?

Kate, who normally analyzed a situation to death before acting, didn't hesitate to hurry out of the room and grab the next elevator. The ding as each floor was passed set Kate's teeth on edge.

When the doors finally opened, Kate called out in her most authoritative detective tone, "Freeze, Castle."

Castle and Natalie, who were no longer locked in an embrace but were still standing far to close together for Kate's liking, spun around and looked at Kate with matching looks of shock.

Kate walked over to the pair and said point blank, "No way are you leaving with her." Natalie's eyes widened and Castle's jaw dropped. Kate was well aware that he was all too familiar with her tone. It was the one she usually used for suspects. A small part of her realized that she was most likely abusing her authority, but for once she didn't care. She couldn't let Castle leave with this woman any more than she could let a suspect go free without an air-tight alibi.

Natalie recovered first. "We were just going to do some research," she told Kate, her gaze now wary.

"Research," Kate scoffed. "And I bet I know just what kind of research. But that isn't going to happen."

"Kate-" Castle's tone was all too familiar. It was his, "I've got to get Beckett to calm down before she loses it" tone.

"Save it, Castle." Kate wasn't going to let him distract her this time. It was too important. "You do know what type of research she has in mind, don't you?"

"Uh..." It was obvious he knew but wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"How am I supposed to project the heat between Rook and Nikki Heat if I don't have Castle to base it on?" Natalie demanded to know.

"Heat?" Kate glared at the woman. "You want to see the heat between Nikki and Rook?" She closed the distance between herself and Castle, put her hands on his shoulders, and tossing a gaze at the other woman said, "How is this for heat?"

With that, Kate stopped any response Castle may have made to that with her lips. Determined to show Castle that the last thing he wanted was poor imitation of Nikki Heat when the real thing was so much better, Kate let herself go.

It didn't take more than a second for Kate to realize she was in trouble. She had been so focused on getting Castle out of Natalie's clutches that she hadn't stopped to think of the impact kissing Castle would have on her. When Castle took control of the kiss, pulling her so close that she could feel every part of her body in tight contact with every part of his, and making the kiss much more intimate than Kate had ever planned on, she could do nothing more than melt into him. When Castle finally started to pull back from the kiss, Kate couldn't stop the moan of protest from escaping. For an instant she felt him go completely still. But before her protest had time to do more than faintly register in Kate's mind, he was kissing her again.

"Wow," Natalie's exclamation hit Kate like a bucket of ice. She tensed and immediately, although Kate could tell it was reluctantly; Castle released her lips and dropped his arms from around her. "That is some heat."

Kate couldn't prevent the blush that burned her cheeks. What had she done? What had she been thinking? Thinking? She _hadn't_ been thinking. What must Castle think of her now?

"I'll go ahead and leave you two alone," Natalie said and hurried over to her car.

"Kate?" Castle tilted her chin so that she would meet his gaze, but Kate refused to open her eyes. She couldn't face him. She wanted to turn and run away, but she knew that would just make things worse; he'd think her more of a fool than he probably already did. "Kate, look at me."

Slowly, Kate opened her eyes, bracing herself for the jokes that were surely going to be pouring out of his mouth. The tenderness in his gaze stunned her. He was looking at her like-no, she couldn't let her mind go there.

"Kate, what's going on?" Castle asked. "What was all of that about?"

"It wasn't just coffee," Kate mumbled. The baffled look on his face made her realize how crazy that sounded. But it summed up everything she was feeling. "When Natalie took the coffee, it wasn't just my coffee she was trying to take away from me. She was trying to take you, too. And I just couldn't let it happen again."

"Again? Kate, what are you talking about?"

Kate had never been this open with Castle before, but she knew that this time she had no choice. It was either explain everything, or have Castle think she should be committed. "There was nothing I could do last time. I mean, you had a history with her. I knew I couldn't fight that."

"A history?" Castle obviously still wasn't getting it. "With whom?"

Trust Castle to get the grammar right, Kate thought. "Gina. When you went with her to the Hamptons."  
"Gina? Wait, does that mean..."

"I was going to tell you that I had changed my mind about going to the Hamptons," Kate whispered. "That I was falling in love with you. But I was too late. And I couldn't stand the thought of being too late again."

"Too late?" Castle pulled her back into his arms, wrapping them around her and gently pressing her head to his chest. "Never."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the first chapter of this story, and to those of you that added this story to your story alert and favorites list. To avoid any confusion, this chapter is the same story from Castle's point of view. I think this might become a trademark for me. :) For anyone that especially enjoys this format, you might want to see the movie "Flipped." It's great! Anyway, Castle's POV was more difficult to write in this one, but every bit as fun. For any of you that requested I write more on my other story, I am putting that on hold for right now. If I get inspired, I will add to it later, but it just wasn't coming together in my head right.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle. If I did, Kate would have kicked Josh to the curb after Castle disarmed the bomb.**

**Heat**

"Talk to enough people, something usually shakes out."

Rick Castle looked up from the file he was perusing and saw-Nikki Heat. He was stunned. It took him a fraction of a second to realize that it wasn't _really _his fictional character come to life. Instead, it was Natalie Rhodes, the actress that was auditioning for the starring role in the upcoming movie based on his book, Heat Wave. The woman was dressed in an outfit identical to Beckett's own, and her long blonde hair was hidden beneath a wig that matched the color of the detective's chestnut locks.

"Just like I dreamed it," he murmured in amazement. Beckett's startled and, he could tell, slightly appalled gaze alerted him to the fact that the words had not merely ran through his mind. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Here you go, Beckett," Velazquez, the red-headed female precinct clerk said, handing a small stack of files to Natalie.

_Even Velazquez thinks she looks like Beckett_, Castle thought. Although the red-headed woman must have been preoccupied, because although Natalie was just like he had imagined Nikki Heat in his dreams, there was no way he would ever mistake her for Detective Beckett.

"Thanks, Johnson," Natalie said, taking the papers from the clerk. Belatedly, she asked Beckett, "It's Johnson, right?"

Normally such a thing would have irritated Rick. It drove him crazy when someone didn't get their facts straight, especially when they were laid right out in front of you. But he was still too stunned by seeing his own creation in the flesh to pay much attention to such minor details. Beckett's irritation cut through the Nikki Heat haze, though.

"It's Velazquez," she snapped, yanking the files away from Natalie. "And you are not me."

"No," Natalie agreed, leaning over the desk and locking gazes with Rick. "But I'm getting warmer."

Just like that, his attention was drawn back to Natalie. "You certainly are," he breathed.

"Okay," Beckett leaned over and set the files in her hands on the desk near Rick, pulling his attention away from Natalie for a brief moment, "word's already out on Greta, and we're already tracking Duke's credit cards," she said, referring to their two most promising leads for their current case. "Why don't we just call it a night?"

"What?" Natalie's disappointed response brought Rick's attention back to her again. "But it's still early."

"Yeah," Rick agreed. A few brief moments weren't nearly enough to take in having his dream vision of Nikki before him. And he wanted to see her in action with them out on the field. Beckett and Nikki Heat working together, his muse and his character based on that muse side by side. How cool would that be?

"Yeah, well, it's a high stressed job," the pointed look Beckett gave Rick told him that she wasn't going to bend on this, "and I wouldn't want anyone to get burned out."

"All right," Natalie's disappointed acceptance told Rick that she recognized the futility of arguing. When Detective Beckett made up here mind, it was next to impossible to get her to change it. "I'll go pack up my things."

Rick couldn't tear his gaze from Natalie as she walked out of the room. Beckett's shutting the door behind her finally broke the spell. Slightly.

"You can not tell me that is normal," she hissed.

Beckett was upset, Rick realized, surprised. He knew she didn't have a lot of experience with Hollywood types, but he thought she would understand dedication to one's job. After all, he didn't know anyone more dedicated to her chosen vocation than Detective Beckett. "She's just committed to the role," he defended the actress. He got up then, heading towards the door. Beckett may not want to spend any more time with his character come to life, but he sure did. He opened the door and before heading out of the room after the actress, said to the irritated woman, "You should be flattered."

He caught up with Natalie in mere seconds. "Let me help you," he said, taking the box of Natalie's things and tucking it under his arm.

"Thank you," Natalie said and started heading to the elevators, Rick at her side. After a moment, she let out a sigh. "Look at me, all dressed up and no crime to solve."

"Huh, yeah." Castle, usually the most eloquent of speakers, could think of nothing better to say. Now that Beckett was no longer in the same room with them, his attention was fully taken up with the actress, and he just couldn't get over how perfectly she had captured the appearance, and even the essence, of Nikki Heat. After all, even though Nikki Heat was inspired by Beckett, the fictional character he had created had some definite differences from the real-life detective, differences that Natalie was portraying with amazing accuracy.

"I had my heart set on doing research tonight," Natalie went on.

"Huh," was all Rick could think to say.

"So what do you think?" she asked. "Am I everything you imagined Nikki would be?"

Once again, intelligent words escaped Rick. "Uh huh," was all he said.

"You know, I read Heat Wave last night," Natalie informed him.

"Really?" Rick was a bit surprised that she had taken his earlier advice to heart. It had galled him when she had told him that she hadn't bothered to read Heat Wave in preparation for the role. The screenplay was different enough from what he had written that he couldn't imagine any actress being able to do the character of Nikki Heat justice without also reading the book.

"You're right," she said, "it was so much better than the screenplay." Castle couldn't stop the slight smile that her comment brought to his lips. Having reached the elevators, they waited for the next one to become available. "I went right out and read Naked Heat," Natalie informed him. "You know, I realize the character of Jameson Rook is based on you."

"Well yeah, I guess I drew on my relationship with Detective Beckett," he admitted. After all, it was no secret that Beckett was his muse and the inspiration for Nikki Heat.

"Even the sex scenes?" Natalie inquired slyly.

_Whoa!_ Castle knew he needed to put a swift end to that line of thinking. The last thing he needed was _anyone_ to think there was more going on with Beckett than there was. Not only because such a thing would put an immediate end to his partnership with the detective, and the chances of her shooting him were not exactly zero if such a rumor got started, but also because he knew that, more than anything, Beckett would be hurt. He knew that she had fought long and hard to gain the respect she now had in her profession, and the last thing that he wanted to do was jeopardize that. And his playboy image wouldn't help anything. It wasn't fair that such a reputation boosted his career whereas a similar reputation would make her career, at the very least, incredibly awkward. But that was the way it was, and he had way too much respect for Beckett to allow even a hint of such ideas to take root in Natalie's head. Or anyone else's.

"No, that was just..." he fumbled for the right words.

"Fantasy?" Natalie supplied. "Like me, now?"

The look in Natalie's eyes was starting to make Rick uneasy. He had seen that look in a woman's eyes plenty of times. And there would have been a time that he would have jumped at the chance to be with Natalie. But he was in a committed relationship with Gina at the moment, and if there was one thing Rick refused to do, ever, it was to cheat. Even if that relationship had been strained for a long time and he knew that it wasn't going to work and he would need to end it in the near future. Besides, if he was going to be with someone other than Gina, it would be-

Okay, he needed to stop right there. Natalie was enough like Beckett that it could weaken his resolve to keep his integrity.

"Well, you know you want to give the audience what they want," Rick replied lamely. The fact that he drew on dreams he had about Beckett to write those scenes was something no one else needed to know.

"Oh, yeah," was all Natalie said in reply.

A slight ding alerted them to the fact that their elevator had arrived. Rick stepped inside and hit the button for the garage floor before turning back to Natalie.

"You know, the script is so much about the passion between Nikki and Rook. If I'm going to play Nikki right..." Surprise and, yes, he had to admit it, to himself at least, the temptation she offered kept him from resisting when Natalie put her hands on his chest and gently pushed him back against the elevator wall. "I gotta feel that heat."

"Natalie, I'm..." Rick didn't quite know what to say. That he was in a relationship? That he was flattered but not interested; at least, not interested enough to act on that interest? That if he was going to be with someone related to Nikki Heat, it would be-

"Not Natalie," Natalie whispered, interrupting Castle's thoughts. "Nikki." With those words, the actress wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.

Rick's response to the kiss was not what he had expected. It was like having ice thrown in his face. Never had he kissed one woman and been thinking of another. But that's what was happening now. Shock caused him to go on auto-pilot, which for him meant not instantly pulling away. It barely registered that his arms were around Natalie's waist when he snapped out of it.

Gently, he pulled back and lowered Natalie's arms from around his neck. "Natalie, I'm sorry," he said, "but no."

"No?" The shock was evident both in Natalie's expression and tone.

The doors opened to the garage level and after getting off the elevator Natalie stood as close to Rick as before. "You're kidding, right?"

"It's just too meta," Rick explained. "I mean, you look and act like Nikki, but Nikki is a fictional character based on Beckett. And that is just way too many personalities to have in that kind of situation."

"Wow," Natalie said. "I've never had a man tell me no before."

"I believe it," Rick said.

The two were engrossed enough in their conversation that they didn't hear the ding signaling that the elevator doors were again opening, but they certainly heard Beckett's, "Freeze, Castle." They spun around and looked at Beckett with identical expression of shock.

Rick frantically racked his brain, trying to figure out what he could have possibly done in the last ten minutes for her to be using her "Detective Beckett" tone on him. It was like he was a suspect, or something. He'd already been through that once. But there was no dead body here, and he certainly wasn't holding a gun. So what was the problem?

Rick felt a slight unease as the detective walked up to him. The words that came out of her mouth were the last he would have ever expected and his jaw dropped in shock. "No way are you leaving with her," she informed him.

"We were just going to do some research," Natalie defended them. Rick was glad she had found her voice, because he certainly hadn't. In all the books he had written, he didn't think he had written a scene that covered something like this. Whatever it was _this _was, which Rick wasn't quite sure about yet.

"Research," Beckett scoffed. "And I bet I know just what kind of research."

_ Kate doesn't mean-_ Rick couldn't fathom it; if she was thinking that they were planning to engage in research for the love scenes in the movie, why would she have followed them?

"But that isn't going to happen," Beckett said.

"Kate..." Rick knew that he had to calm his partner down, and quick. Natalie was no match for a trained homicide detective.

"Save it, Castle," Beckett said. "You know what type of research she has in mind, don't you?"

_She does mean that,_ Rick realized. But what difference did it make to her? She already had a boyfriend, Dr. Motorcycle Boy. And she had never cared about his activities outside of work before. "Uh..." he tried, but his brain was too muddled trying to figure everything out to come up with an adequate response.

"How am I supposed to project the heat between Rook and Nikki Heat if I don't have Castle to base it on?" Natalie demanded to know.

"Heat?" Rick was shocked at the animosity emanating from Beckett's eyes as she glared at Natalie. "You want to see the heat between Nikki and Rook?"

The feeling of Beckett's hands on his shoulders set Rick's heart pounding. What in the world was she up to? Beckett glanced over her shoulder at Natalie and asked, "How is this for heat?"

For a brief moment Rick wondered if he had somehow been knocked out and this was all a dream. But the feeling of Kate's lips on his was all too real. His body's reaction was instant as he pulled her closer. The soft feel of her lips, the cherry scent of her hair and the soft but firm hands around his neck sent his senses reeling. Not wanting to waste this chance, he deepened the kiss, allowing all of the pent-up passion he had felt for over two long years to roam free. When she melted against him, returning the kiss with a need that equaled his, his emotions kicked in and tenderness for the beautiful detective flooded him. It took all of the self control he had, but after a few seconds of glorying in the feeling of having Kate finally, _finally_, give into the passion that he had always suspected was there, he forced himself to gently pull away. When a moan of protest escaped her lips, he froze. The blissful expression on her face was too much for him to resist, and he pulled her back into his arms and lowered his lips once again to hers. Not knowing how long she was going to allow this to go on, Rick didn't waste the opportunity, making this second kiss every bit as passionate as the first.

"Wow." Natalie's tone was awed. When Rick felt Kate go rigid in his arms, he immediately released her, although he didn't put more than a few inches of space between them. "That is some heat," Natalie said. After a moment's pause she said, "I'll go ahead and leave you two alone." With that, she hurried over to her car.

"Kate?" Rick tilted her chin so she would meet his gaze, but she refused to open her eyes. Since so much of what he had learned about Kate over the years had come from her expressive eyes, he knew he needed to look into their green depths. "Kate,

look at me."

Slowly she did so, and the vulnerability he saw in the green orbs was a swift kick to his heart. "Kate, what's going on?" he gently demanded to know. "What was all of that about?"

"It wasn't just coffee," Kate finally mumbled.

Rick tried to figure that one out, but was at a complete loss. Considering it was the first thing to come out of her mouth, he assumed their must be some significance to the statement. Thankfully, he wasn't left to try to reason it out.

"When Natalie took the coffee, it wasn't just my coffee she was trying to take away from me. She was trying to take you, too. And I just couldn't let it happen again."

Take him from her? What did she mean by that?

As her partner? Sure, he might have to spend some time away from the precinct while details for the movie were being ironed out, but chances were that he wouldn't even have to leave the city until around the time of the premiere.

Or could it be that she meant-

Wait, again? What did she mean by that?

"Again?" he asked, baffled. "Kate, what are you talking about?"

"There was nothing I could do last time," she went on.

Last time? _What _last time?

"I mean, you had a history with her," Kate explained, which explained absolutely nothing at all to Rick. "I knew I couldn't fight that."

A history with her...

There weren't many people Kate could be referring to. He hadn't even been with all that many women, comparatively, since he'd met her. There were only three people she could possibly be referring to. Kyra, who was married with Rick's blessing and was no threat in any sense of the word. Or Meredith, whom, although he may enjoy a brief fling her with now and again, (which had only happened once since he had met Kate) was even less of a threat. So that left-

"Gina," Kate continued to explain. "When you went to the Hamptons."

She _was _referring to Gina. Okay, he could see how she could think of her as a threat, since he had yet to break things off with his second ex-wife.

But, wait. When he went with Gina to the Hamptons...Last time...nothing she could do...Natalie trying to take him away like Gina had...

Suddenly, it all crystallized in his mind. "Gina," he said, hope filling him for the first time in months, "Wait, does that mean..."

"I was going to tell you that I had changed my mind about going to the Hamptons," Kate whispered.

He could have had Kate with him that Memorial Day weekend? And he wouldn't have had to have spent any more time away from her over the summer than it would have taken to finish his book? And she wouldn't have hooked up with Dr. Motorcycle Boy, either?

If only he hadn't asked Gina to go with him! True, he'd had a pleasant conversation with Gina the night before they left, and he'd wanted someone to distract him so that he wouldn't be thinking about Kate Beckett so much. Which had turned out to be pretty pointless, since the book he spent those weeks working on starred a detective based on her.

"I was going to tell you that I was falling in love with you," Kate went on. "But I was too late. And I couldn't stand the thought of being too late again."

Wait, what? Too late? Kate Beckett, who had just confessed to being in love with him, thought she was now too late?

Why? Because of Gina? The woman he knew that he was going to have to break things off with long before he'd ever had an inkling of Kate's true feelings? Obviously he was going to have to talk to Gina before things went any further with Kate; he wouldn't have even kissed her yet if she hadn't caught him so much by surprise. He shouldn't have let the second kiss happen, he knew. But the longing moan and the blissful expression on Kate's face had been too much for him to resist.

"Too late?" Rick pulled her back into his arms, wrapping them around her and gently pressing her head to his chest. "Never."


End file.
